San Jose’s Tabard Theatre revisits a classic Halloween scare

Could anything sound more 2020 than a thriller about strange invaders creating fear in an economically ravaged America with invisible microbes figuring into the climax? Maybe not, but Tabard Theatre’s production of “The War of the Worlds” — based on Orson Welles’ famous radio play of H.G. Wells’ sci-fi classic — is a trip back in time.

Tabard Executive Artistic Director Jonathan Rhys Williams said the parallels between Depression-era America and today’s troubles were in his mind when Tabard decided to present The Mercury Theatre’s adaptation, which scared the hell out of people when it was first broadcast as a Halloween show on Oct. 30, 1938.

“At one point, we considered creating a new adaptation and setting it in a modern San Francisco Bay Area but the more we pursued the idea the more we realized that the better choice was to present the 1938 radio play and allow the audience to draw their own connections,” Williams said. “The existential threat of a deadly unknown invader, the hysteria of fantastical news bulletins ‘too numerous to read’ and the fascinating reverse parallel of the Martians being defeated by their susceptibility to microscopic organisms to which human beings have earned herd immunity all have a renewed significance that hits, at times, a little too close to home.”

If you’re wondering, the livestream from production originating from Tabard’s theater in San Pedro Square downtown does mean the company has finally gotten clearance from Santa Clara County to use its venue as a livestream studio. “The War of the Worlds” will be streamed Oct. 30-31 at 8 p.m. and Nov. 1 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15-$50 and can be purchased at www.tabardtheatre.org.

VIRTUAL TREATS (NO TRICKS): Magician Phil Ackerly will host Hidden Villa‘s Halloween Haunt as a virtual event this year, providing a mix of magic and education about the programs available to schools and families at the nature preserve in Los Altos Hills on Oct. 30 and 31. Tickets are $30, with a portion of proceeds going back to Hidden Villa, and can be purchased at philackerly.eventbrite.com.

And if you’re looking for a different kind of Halloween celebration, Several Bay Area performers — including San Jose harpist and storyteller Cecilia Fàbos-Becker, Pleasanton poet Willie Hardie, and East San Jose pirate performer Jarrod Tilbury — will join other Celtic performers for an International Samhaim Celebration on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. Watch it at link.americeltic.net/youtube.